Castell y Gwynt (Castle of the Winds)

Our first proper winter walk of the year - loads of snow up on the Glyders in Snowdonia and even though I've been full of a horrible cold all week I was determined to get out there as the conditions were looking good .... and we weren't disappointed.  This is one of my favourite views, Castell y Gwynt (Castle of the Winds) up on Glyder Fach with the Snowdon Horseshoe looking glorious in the background.  It's a view that has been painted by many landscape artists - I've not yet tackled it but plan to one day - whether anyone will actually get to see my effort is another matter!

Here are some of my favourites from real artists!

© Louise Morgan
see more on her website HERE

© Alwyn Dempster Jones (pastel)

I've seen this one 'in the flesh' at the Helfa Gelf event (North Wales Open Studios) amazing detail and really nice to meet him, here is a link to his blog
LINK

© Dave Roberts (pastel)

I've been lucky enough to see this one up close as well at the Helfa Gelf when we visited Dave Robert's studio - a brilliant painting and a really lovely guy too

© Rob Piercy

 from the amazingly talented artist Rob Piercy painted this wonderful interpretation of Castell y Gwynt - fabulous isn't it....
here is a link to his website
LINK

Rob Piercy is previewing his Christmas exhibition at his Porthmadog gallery tomorrow and Gary's taking  me to see it - can't wait to meet the man himself!

Here is another of his paintings and another place where we walked yesterday - the beautiful Cwm Idwal,  what a fabulous painting and just how it looked yesterday with the snow topped Glyders behind

© Rob Piercy

 to see more photos from yesterday's walk,  pop over to our walking blog

 TWO PAIRS OF BOOTS, 

if you like winter mountain landscapes I promise you won't be disappointed!

Now for something completely different.....

After painting nothing but birds for the last few weeks I'm having a play around with other subjects - so as Autumn is well and truly with us I thought I'd start with a little study of conkers.

Bonkers about Conkers

© Sharon Whitley

As some of you reading this will know from my last couple of  posts I've been away for a few days walking in the Lake District with Gary and despite it being rather a mixed bag weather wise we got some wonderful walks in, starting with the beautiful Cadair Idris on Saturday where we had great weather...

The glaciated bowl of Llyn Cau

Cadair Idris summit - Penygadair

We did a round of the Coniston Fells on Monday - 5 more Wainwrights completed and again, pretty good weather for most of the day...here I am on Grey Friar, with the mighty Scafells behind me.

Grey Friar with a Scafells backdrop

One of the things I always love seeing when walking in the Lake District are the local sheep, especially the tough Herdwicks or Herdys as they are more affectionately known......here is a particularly cute one....

 and I've also got a soft spot for Swaledales....how can you not love this face!

Both of these are contenders for future paintings, hopefully sooner rather than later so watch this space!

We ended our stay in the Lake District with a visit to Loweswater where we stayed with the lovely Ann and Roger Hiley of Loweswatercam  fame.  Here they are with a drawing I did of their dogs Harry and Bethan.  Take a look at their website to get to know them better and maybe buy one of their calenders (we did) in aid of Mountain Rescue.

The Hileys made us feel so welcome and really looked after us, freshly made bread, home made soup before a wet and windy walk up Low Fell (enabling me to tick off my 80th Wainwright fell) and a wonderful Greek themed supper - the first thing I did when I got home was get the bread maker out which has been hidden away in the cupboard for the last few years!

Holly enjoyed meeting Bethan and Harry, here they are on Low Fell looking down over Crummock Water

Thank you for reading and don't forget to leave a comment so I know you've popped by - have a wonderful day!

Red Kite fest

I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say that red kites are stunningly beautiful birds. Up until last Friday I'd never been lucky enough to see one, but my word I was in for a treat!  Early Friday morning we drove down to Cadair Idris for a walk up to Llyn Cau, probably my favourite spot in Snowdonia

Regulars to the blog will remember I attempted a painting of this photo in July which I wasn't happy with at the time but it has grown on me a bit

Llyn Cau
© Sharon Whitley

LINK

Anyway, after our walk up to one of the most stunning places in Wales, we drove across to Rhayader and Gigrin Farm where they feed the local red kites each day at 3pm.  Soon after entering Powys we realised why the red kite is the much loved symbol of this vast county as we saw a few overhead on our drive down and I got very excited at these sightings.  Little did I know I would soon be seeing hundreds of these magnificent birds swooping down to grasp their food supplements for the day. There were literally hundreds of them, and a few buzzards taking advantage of the free food too!  Gary took some beautiful photos while we were there which I'm sure will soon be on his blog site.  I'll definitely be painting one or two of these I think! In the meantime though I'm posting a coloured pencil sketch I did of a red kite early last year, my first go at coloured pencil so its not that good!  I'd like to give cp another try some time as I've not really given them a chance and could do with experimenting with them a bit more.

Red Kite
© Sharon Whitley

To make the day even more special we had the most gorgeous weather, beautiful blue skies perfect for photography - I forgot my paints so no plein air, although I was so busy enjoying watching the kites I don't think I'd have done any even if I did have the paints with me!  The rest of the weekend continued to be lovely and sunny and on Saturday I led a group of walkers on a circular walk from Loggerheads to Moel Famau and back, a beautiful, leisurely walk with wonderful views of Snowdonia from the summit, and luckily I didn't lose anybody en route!

Gary and I enjoying the views

I love this photo that was taken by another Sharon who joined us on the walk, this is the view to Moel Famau from Loggerheads at the start of the walk.  I'm hoping we get just as good weather next weekend as we're off to the Lake District on Friday for 3 days, lots of walking and more plein air painting to bore you with!  I'll hopefully get a red kite painting in before then though! Til next time fellow bloggers, take care of yourselves!

Toby and more plein air

Another pet portrait I did as a gift for a friend's 50th last week.  I can finally post it now that she has received it, I really enjoyed painting him, it just seemed to come together nicely

Toby
© Sharon Whitley

And yes I've been out doing more plein air bits and pieces - I'm rarely happy with the result but enjoying the process! Here I am on Tuesday night at the summit of Moel Famau doing a very quick sketch because it was freezing of the Jubilee Tower

the resulting small watercolour  5.5 x 3.5"

and last night it was much calmer and warmer and I did a couple of small watercolours from this view point

 this is one of them, of the fence that lines the path up there

I'm painting in the comfort of the art room at home tonight, or I might just nip into the garden!  Til next time fellow bloggers..................

More Plein Air

It's funny isn't it - when you find that you really enjoy doing something that you didn't think was your cup of tea?  Well, I've found this with plein air painting.  I've been toying with the idea for a while but really didn't think I'd take to it, being so used to painting in the comfort of my home and when I am outdoors I'm used to walking, not sitting!  Yet I've found I've really quite enjoyed it - I've only done a handful of plein air sketches and the results haven't been great, but it's the enjoyment of sitting there with a live subject in front of you and being out in the open.  I did a couple on Friday for Maggie Latham's small works challenge.  The challenge is to paint some postcard sized watercolours en plein air.  I've got some watercolour paper scraps from Ken Bromley's Art Supplies - they have a box that you can help yourself from and I took a handful when I was there (link to post) so they came in very handy for this challenge!  We drove to Loggerheads which is an AONB near us - I already knew what I wanted to paint, the bridge over the River Alyn, so I sat myself down on the bench near the bridge, got some water from the river and started to paint.  I use one of those pan sets that W&N do when working plein air, which is a bit alien to me as I normally use tubes and it's weird not knowing what colours you're using as well but I'm getting used to using them.

Here is the first watercolour sketch which took about half an hour.

Bridge at Loggerheads
© Sharon Whitley

and here is me in situ - there were a couple of light showers but the trees helped keep me dry

Then we had a wander through the woods and I sat at the side of the path to paint another watercolour

The finished painting and my favourite of the two

Walk through the woods
© Sharon Whitley

With two small paintings under my belt it was time to visit Caffi Florence for a delicious bowl of homemade soup, then home, a perfect end to a lovely morning.  Poor Gary though was hoping to get some wildlife shots while I was painting as we sometimes see Tree Creepers, and Dippers in this area but no such luck this morning - it's a good job he enjoys watching me paint!

We went out to Loggerheads again on Saturday night and I took my little scraps of watercolour paper with me and had another go, this time the weather was a bit more extreme and the wind was howling making it a bit difficult to keep my pot of water upright and paint straight !!! 

Extreme painting!

Needless to say the results were quite loose - good job that was the feel I was going for then!!!!  I did three small sketches but am only showing you the one I like best as the other two are howlers!  I'm out with the paints again tonight to do a bit more!

Moel Famau
© Sharon Whitley

Til next time bloggers, have a lovely day!

Link to Maggie Latham's Small Works Challenge blog

Art in the Landscape

Cairns of all shapes and sizes have graced the Earth since prehistoric times and can be found all over the world in uplands, moorlands, deserts, sea cliffs, acting as waymarkers and indicating mountain summits.....not everyone likes cairns and feel that they ruin the natural landscape but I love them - they can certainly be a very comforting site when the clag comes in and you suddenly can't see more than 10 ft in front of you ! ...... a cairn ahead reassures you that you're on the right path ..... and oh what a welcome sight a summit cairn can  be when you've had a long,  hard slog up a particularly steep slope!!  It's common for walkers to add a stone to the top of a cairn as they pass - I like to add a stone to summit cairns, it feels like I've left a little piece of myself at the top!

These summit cairns vary in size from small stone markers to huge piles that are like a hill in themselves and they also vary in their complexity - from loose, untidy piles of stones to elaborate works of art!  Andy Goldsworthy, the Scottish landscape artist has certainly recognised the art in the humble cairn and is known for creating them in his work. Give him a google!

The watercolour sketch above is of the trig point cairn at the summit of Red Screes in the Lake District and was painted as a gift for another friend who completed her final Wainwright there.  It was painting this that made me think of all the different varieties of cairns there are and how they are actually works of art in themselves in our landscapes.  Here are a few more of these artworks from photographs I've taken on my walks

I love this cairn on Blea Crag overlooking Derwentwater

and this one on High Spy - complete with cairn huggers!

This is one of my favourites, at the summit of Dale Head looking down over the Newlands Valley in the Lake District

One of the summit cairns on Pike O Blisco in the Lake District

now to Snowdonia - this is another of my favourites - it doesn't sit on a summit but on the Aran ridge between Aran Benllyn and Aran Fawddwy

and the huge obelisk that sits on the Nantlle Ridge in Snowdonia to mark the summit of Mynydd Tal y Mignedd

I'd like to say my favourite fell in the Lake District had a cairn as grand as the above but unfortunately, poor old Blencathra's beautiful summit is marked by a rather scraggy pile of stones although I've added a few more in the times I've been up there, not that it has made a lot of difference!

Would love to hear of favourite cairns that any walking blogger chums may have and as always I love reading all your comments. Til next time ............

214!

Yesterday was a very special day for a friend of mine - she was completing her Wainwright round by climbing her final two Wainwrights, Fleetwith Pike and Haystacks, therefore completing all the 214 fells Alfred Wainwright climbed and featured in his pictorial guides.  It was an early start - 5.15 alarm call then in the car to drive to the Lake District to meet Shirley and some other walking friends at Buttermere and it certainly was a day to remember!

Haystacks - a watercolour I painted for Shirley as a memento of her special day

The weather at the beginning of the day when we all set off was grim to say the least!

On the summit of Fleetwith Pike - it rained all the way up - no view!
photo taken by Shirley

Walmscale Beck swollen so it was boots and socks off to wade across - a first for me!!
photo taken by Shirley

On the summit of Haystacks - and a new member of the Wainwright completion club!!!

While celebrating on the summit the clouds cleared and we enjoyed sunshine and blue skies for the rest of the day !

The route up Fleetwith Pike which we climbed in the pouring rain earlier!

Haystacks looking gorgeous

A great end to the day!!

Climbing all 214 Wainwrights is some challenge to take on especially when you live a fair way from the Lake District but it's something I quite fancy doing in the future - at the moment I'm just happy to be in the mountains, but there is always something special about climbing something you've not done before and I'm keeping note of any new Wainwright fells that I do - and if I ever find I'm within reach of that momentous 214 then I might just go for it!   after yesterday I'm up to 63 so I've got a long way to go yet !

Walking in the Carneddau

For the last 2 days of our week away we camped in the Ogwen Valley in Snowdonia under the watchful eye of the majestic Tryfan.  I love this place and Tryfan is a favourite of many mountain walkers. The North ridge is a scramble pretty much from bottom to top - I managed to get a quick sketch in using water soluble graphite and a bit of watercolour - all of course while being attacked by those darn midges whose bites I'm still itching now a week later!

Tryfan sketch

We didn't climb Tryfan on this occasion but instead crossed over to the other side of the valley and walked the beautiful Carneddau mountains. It was a glorious day and I wore my shorts -eeek! ... a very rare occurence for me but luckily it was only a few other walkers that had to suffer the sight of my very white, never see the sun, chunky mountain legs!!!

Here is a small selection of the photos that Gary took on the day, we again came across a few of the wild Carneddau ponies which roam this are and which always give me a thrill and got some lovely shots of swallows being fed on the wing.

Tryfan in the early morning sun

A fledgling swallow fed on the wing - one less midgey to worry about!!
(thinking of painting this one!)

Tryfan and Llyn Ogwen

The beautiful Ffynnon Lloer (Source of the Moon)

A nice little scramble up the East ridge of Pen yr Ole Wen 

Carneddau pony

Ffynnon Llugwy below Pen yr Helgi Du (Hill of the Black Hound)

This beautiful wild pony appeared from over the hill, a lovely sight to see and followed by many more looking for water on a hot afternoon

It was a beautiful walk though the soles of my feet were hurting a bit towards the end - which they never used to on big walks - think it may be time for new boots!!!

That's enough of my rambles for today, hope you enjoyed the photos - I'm very lucky to have a walking partner who doubles as an excellent photographer!  To see more of Gary's photos from our trip you can check out his blog site here.

As always your comments are most welcome - I love to read them and I've switched off the word verification - I know it's a pain!